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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — By examining more than 3,600 postmortem brains, researchers at Mayo Clinic’s campuses in Jacksonville, Florida, and Rochester, Minnesota, have found that the progression of dysfunctional tau protein drives the cognitive decline and memory loss seen in Alzheimer’s disease. Amyloid, the other toxic protein that characterizes Alzheimer’s, builds up as dementia progresses, but is not the primary culprit, they say.

The findings, published in Brain, offer new and valuable information in the long and ongoing debate about the relative contribution of amyloid and tau to the development and progression of cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer’s, says the study’s lead author, Melissa Murray, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A research team led by investigators from Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida, and the University of Oslo, Norway, have identified a molecule that pushes normal pancreatic cells to transform their shape, laying the groundwork for development of pancreatic cancer — one of the most difficult tumors to treat.

Their findings, reported in Nature Communications, suggest that inhibiting the gene, protein kinase D1 (PKD1), and its protein could halt progression and spread of this form of pancreatic cancer, and possibly even reverse the transformation.

“As soon as pancreatic cancer develops, it begins to spread, and PKD1 is key to both processes. Given this finding, we are busy developing a PKD1 inhibitor that we can test further,” says the study’s co-lead investigator, Peter Storz, Ph.D., a cancer researcher at Mayo Clinic.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Cancer researchers at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida, have identified a molecule they say is important to survival of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) — a lethal tumor with no effective therapies. The molecule also seems to play a role in a wide range of cancers.

In an online issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, they identify Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) as an oncogenic enzyme that when inhibited and paired with another targeted drug effectively shuts down ATC cell growth and induces cell death.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Precision medicine is getting a jump-start from a new national initiative announced in President Obama's State of the Union message. One Georgia family has already experienced its benefits: genomic testing called whole exome sequencing helped Mayo ClinicneurologistZbigniew Wszolek, M.D., solve a medical mystery that had left a boy with painful, jerking spasms that at times prevented him from walking or talking. Dr. Wszolek describes the case in a newly published article in the medical journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

As a toddler, Dustin Bennett could not keep his balance, and as he grew older, the rigid, jerking spasms mysteriously appeared and disappeared. Over time, he also developed learning disabilities.

Dustin’s adoptive mother, Linda Bennett, took him to several doctors to find the cause of his movement problems, but years of tests, medications and hospital stays came up empty for the Pearson, Georgia, family.

“I wasn’t willing to give up, because I felt there had to be an answer somewhere,” Linda says.

This is a confocal image of a Lewy body from the brain of a patient with Lewy body dementia double stained for tyrosine hydroxylase (the enzyme that makes dopamine) and α-synuclein (the major protein constituent of Lewy bodies).

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida, has received a $5.75 million gift from the Harry T. Mangurian Jr. Foundation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to advance the study of Lewy body dementia, a deadly disease that causes a progressive decline in mental and physical abilities. The new Mayo program is one of a few in the world dedicated to finding answers and treatments for the disease.

The gift establishes the Mayo Clinic Dorothy and Harry T. Mangurian Jr. Lewy Body Dementia Program and builds on the foundation’s previous support of Mayo research to advance awareness and understanding of Lewy body dementia. It also helps support the brain bank on Mayo’s Florida campus, which includes about 1,000 donated organs of deceased patients confirmed to have had Lewy body dementia.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A study of more than 2,000 patients by researchers at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida, has dispelled the myth that cancer biopsies cause cancer to spread. In the Jan. 9 online issue of Gut, they show that patients who received a biopsy had a better outcome and longer survival than patients who did not have a biopsy.

The image shows a pancreas tumor being biopsied with a needle as visualized by endoscopic ultrasound. The endoscope was located within the stomach (passed via the mouth). An ultrasound probe at the tip of the endoscope allows visualization of the pancreas which is located immediately next to the stomach. A long needle is guided through the endoscope and into the tumor under ultrasound guidance.

Fine needle aspiration is a minimally invasive technique that uses a thin and hollow needle to extract a few cells from a tumor mass. A long-held belief by a number of patients and even some physicians has been that a biopsy can cause some cancer cells to spread.

While there have been a few case reports that suggest this can happen — but very rarely — there is no need for patients to be concerned about biopsies, says Dr. Wallace.

“This study shows that physicians and patients should feel reassured that a biopsy is very safe,” he says. “We do millions of biopsies of cancer a year in the U.S., but one or two case studies have led to this common myth that biopsies spread cancer.” Read the rest of this entry »

“Dr. Presutti is a wonderfully gifted and proven physician leader,” says Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., chief executive officer of Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida. “He brings energy and passion to his work and is committed to building upon Dr. Calamia’s successful leadership and involvement in the Waycross community.”

Dr. Presutti has been with Mayo Clinic since 1997. He currently is chair of the Division of Regional Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida. He also serves as medical director for Contracting and Payer Relations and is a member of the executive operations teams in Florida and Waycross. As a family practice physician, Dr. Presutti has dedicated his career to the health and well-being of his patients and the training and education of other family medicine physicians. Read the rest of this entry »

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Three researchers at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida have received $1.2 million from the newly funded Florida Health Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Research Program to study various aspects of Alzheimer’s disease. The program was created earlier this year to improve the health of Floridians by researching prevention and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It may not be necessary for experienced gastroenterologists to send polyps they remove from a patient’s colon to a pathologist for examination, according to a large study conducted by physician researchers at the Jacksonville campus of Mayo Clinic.

The benign hyperplastic polyp appears very pale and bland on imaging.

Their 522-patient study, published in the December issue of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, found that physicians correctly evaluated whether a polyp was precancerous or benign using high-definition optical lenses during a colonoscopy. Their assessment was 96 or 97 percent accurate — depending on which of two generations of scopes was used — compared with a standard pathological evaluation of the polyps.

The Mayo Clinic researchers conclude that the pathological polyp examination now required by national practice guidelines may not be necessary — an advance they say could result in substantial cost savings for the patient and the health care system, as well as more rapid information and recommendations for follow-up for the patient. Read the rest of this entry »

She will serve as administrative partner to Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., incoming vice president of Mayo Clinic and chief executive officer of the Jacksonville campus, as previously announced. Zorn assumes her new role on Jan. 1.

“Christina Zorn has significant experience at Mayo Clinic as well as excellent insight into the strengths of Mayo Clinic’s Florida staff and the unique challenges of the local and regional market,” says Dr. Farrugia. “I look forward to working with Christina as we continue the excellent efforts underway in delivering outstanding care to our patients, advancing research and educating the next generation of providers in Florida and throughout the Southeast.”

Zorn has been with Mayo Clinic since 2002. She began her career at Mayo Clinic as a legal counsel and now serves as the chair of the Florida division of the Legal Department. In addition, Zorn has served as an administrator for the Department of Ophthalmology in Florida and for several key initiatives.

She succeeds Robert Brigham, who has served as chief administrative officer in Florida since 2005. Brigham will retire from Mayo Clinic at the end of 2014. Zorn will work closely with Brigham to ensure a smooth leadership transition.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0746,punsky.kevin@mayo.eduRead the rest of this entry »